The original Tallmadge Blue Devil Mascot was first introduced to Tallmadge in 2005, and ever since then, it has had the name Bob. The name was originally created by Tallmadge High School students in Pep Club during the 2004-2005 school year. While the name, Bob, stuck for a while, most students and parents are no longer familiar with the original name and simply refer to the mascot as “the Blue Devil”. In 2013, Tallmadge High School bought the newer mascot, which was never named. Community members who knew the name assumed that the original mascot’s name, Bob, would also be the name of the new Blue Devil.
“It didn’t seem like anybody really knew what the official name was,” Tallmadge Elementary School principal Adam Booth said.
Booth first proposed the idea to rename the mascot to Public Relations Manager Kelli Christopher at the 2023 TES Back-to-School night. Christopher thought making it a contest for elementary school students would be a great idea, and Booth agreed.
“Students love the Blue Devil, and we thought that allowing them to name him would be something fun that would give them some pride and build school spirit. We hope that the community will see it that way as well,” Christopher said.
Christopher contacted Pep Club Advisor Julie Headrick, asking what she thought about allowing the district to vote on a new name for the Blue Devil.
“[Headrick] thought that allowing current students to have some ownership in renaming him would be fun for all,” Christopher said.
After the idea gained some support, TES classrooms began submitting name suggestions. Each homeroom got to enter one name, hoping that theirs would be the new official name of the Blue Devil. A list with the name options was then sent out to students and staff members throughout the district.
“Honestly, it’s gotten a little bit bigger than I thought it would, which is fun because I love the traditions of this community and I love the passion towards the mascot,” Booth said.
While this originally seemed like a fun idea to get TES students more involved in school spirit, it quickly became a community controversy.
“We have surprisingly gotten a lot of negative feedback from community members who have a connection to the original name of Bob the Devil – which is still a name students and staff could have chosen,” Christopher said.
Posts have been met with both negative and positive feedback, and community members have heavily debated the change. Booth understands the pushback from those who value the traditions of the community; he also likes to see that it has become a topic of discussion.
“I understand that everyone doesn’t always agree on everything, but it’s important to have conversations on things we disagree on,” Booth said.
Christopher and Booth hope that the new name will grow on the community when it is announced on social media, on October 11.
